Deeper with God... (Spirituality)

 "Learning to show the Father's love..." 

Matthew 6

"Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength..." was the first and greatest commandment.  We celebrated it in our opening worship today. And Jesus said that this remains the first and greatest commandment.  John says he is writing something that is both old and new. (1 John 2. 27) rooted in the fact that "God is love".... Love is not something God does. It is what he is.   And that covenant has always been a covenant of grace, but it has been a veiled grace. Paul speaks about the way when the old covenant is read, a veil remains over people's faces and minds (2 Cor 3.14) In Jesus there is a "new Covenant".   However, with Jesus, something completely new arrives.  The really new thing, the amazing new thing about the way Jesus describes going deeper with God is found in one word: "Father". A couple of weeks ago we were learning about the importance of "Being like our heavenly father..."   After making that point in Matthew 5, Jesus goes on in Chapter 6, to talk about "heart stuff". He is concerned with what is going on inside.    Over and over again in Chapter six, as he describes the kind of "heart surgery" that we need in order to go deeper with God, the way life should b as disciples, he talks about God as Father.  Ten times in chapter six... Jesus spirituality means knowing God as father.  Let's look at what that implies.

Firstly, about acceptance.  

There were people around in Jesus' day - as there still are - who do religious things, like giving generously (verses 1-4) praying regularly (verses 5-6), and fasting (verses 17-18), for all the wrong reasons: so that other people could see them and be impressed - maybe even intimidated - with how generous and holy they were

We need spiritual disciplines.  They are good for our inner lives.  I recommend giving things away.  A few years ago when we were kind of struggling financially as a church, the Lord gave me a clear word, and it was this "give 'till it stops hurting."  The Lord loves a hilarious giver. (2 Cor 9. 7)  We need to pray, not just when we feel like it but in a disciplined way, regularly. Fasting is not something I find easy. When my stomach gets empty, my head gets sore.  But fasting - whether from food, luxuries like chocolate, or activities like TV, challenges our appetites and exposes our physical and behavioural addictions...

But, it's not about impressing the people around us. And it's not about impressing our heavenly father. We don't need to impress him. He sees in secret. (verse 4, 6, 18) He sees what is going on in our hearts. And he loves us. He accepts us.    Isn't that releasing?

Isn't impressing people a real drag; doesn't it wear you out?  I love to cook a really good curry and see people enjoy it. I like the Scottish voice on the sat-nav that says at the end of the journey "nice driving, mate". It's better than the Dalek one that says, "You have reached your destination. Get out of the vehicle, earthling."  It's good to get the worship right, the teaching relevant and helpful.  It's good to encourage those who lead worship or teach or make cakes.  Some of us are not good at giving that; some of us are not good at receiving it. Some of us need it because we never received it from parents when we were growing up. But it's good to do what we do out of a flow of love to our heavenly father. He sees and knows and rewards.  We don't need to impress him. He accepts us, just as we are. He is pleased with you today.

Secondly, about intimacy.

I was shocked recently to hear that the average British Church leader spends 4 minutes each day reading God's word and 2 minutes each day in prayer. If I was to ask you how many minutes you spend each day praying, would we all be embarrassed? Don't we struggle with prayer? Be honest!  Loads of people are afraid to pray in public because they feel they can't get the words right.  But getting the words right could even get in the way. Jesus said when you pray, don't pile up loads of empty words, as thought you had to make God hear you. You don't need to shout. You don't need to make a speech.  Father knows what you need before you ask so you don't even need to tell him what needs to be done.  There's no point in piling on the words.  We don't have to "persuade" God to answer our prayers.  We don't have to cajole him. You don't have to use big words to pray.  

Prayer is a simple matter of saying "Father, you're in heaven and you're great, and even your name is special, we have such a privilege to simply come to you... God we want to see what you want happening, on this earth just like it is in heaven.  Keep on giving us what we need, and forgive the rubbish in our lives, just like we forgive the people who dump their rubbish in our lives. When hard times come don't let us drift away from you but keep us safe from the devil, because you deserve all the glory..." That's the Lord's Prayer. It's simple.  It's a child's cry to daddy; it's a son's conversation with Dad.  Prayer isn't about getting things; it isn't about making things happen.  I have no doubt prayer does make things happen. God does answer; and he does sometimes wait until we pray. But at its core, it is about intimacy and dependency. Father knows what you need before you ask. And Father wants to hang out with you.    

Thirdly, it's about transformation.

At the end of the Lord's Prayer are two little sentences that are quite disturbing. (Verses 14-15) Father will forgive - if we forgive.  It seems like father is suddenly getting picky and conditional in his love.  If we forgive, he will forgive. If we don't forgive, he will not forgive. But if we don't' forgive, we are trying to function within another kind of pattern. We are trying to function under a covenant of law. And we simply can't have both law and grace in our lives. If we invoke law, we close the door to grace. Not that God is picky. But we just cannot be two things at the same time. We cannot be saved by grace and live by keeping the law. We can't be saved by grace and treat other people according to the law. It is not a matter of "keeping the rules" but of choosing who we will hang out with. And as we hang out with father, we become like him. When I don't feel I want to be like Father, because I am cross with someone, what happens? I lose the intimacy.  I stop hanging out with him.

The relationship we have with Father is meant to be a transforming relationship.  The grace that we receive transforms us. Being forgiven, really forgiven, transforms us. When we go for grace, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us.  And his activity inside us, transforms us, heals us.     The outcome of all that is that we behave and live differently. "Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship." If we are simply ourselves before God, he welcomes us - and changes us. It's about transformation.

Fourthly, it's about trust.  

Consider the birds (verse 26) He's just a wee dunnock: but isn't he splendid? He's just a robin, but isn't he smart?  "Your heavenly Father feeds the birds...How much more will he feed you" We're kind of tempted to run about getting things, looking after things, worrying about material things.

Yes, there is a world economic crisis at this time; jobs are harder to find and money doesn't go so far.  Jesus doesn't say he will make these circumstances go away.  Not at all.  He says, "In the world you will have trouble. But don't be afraid, I have overcome the world." (John 16. 33)  In the midst of the series of crises, (which put us in a similar place to the earliest disciples who lived a world where there was much poverty, no pensions, no health service and no social security) Jesus calls us, instead of panicking, to trust our heavenly father.  "Your Father knows you need all these things.

And if you trust him and seek his Kingdom, "all these things" will be yours as well  (verse 33). He is faithful, reliable. You can trust him. It is Father's pleasure to give you the Kingdom. (Luke 12. 32)

Being a disciple of Jesus isn't a matter of impressing anyone, of doing all the right things all the time or even of doing things right. Spirituality is a walk with Father.  If we have lived with critical, distant, chaotic, unreliable Fathers, God wants to heal us and wrap us in his loving arms.  He wants us to know him as our Heavenly father.

© Gilmour Lilly November 2011